No turning back
by lissylou78
Summary: A one shot...


It had been a tough few weeks but here they were at election night. There was a point when Liv thought it was a lost cause but Reston dropping from the race had given them a fighting chance and she took that chance and she ran with it. She lived and breathe Grant campaign like her life depended on it. In a way, it did. The goal was for him to win. If he won then she would feel absolution from Defiance and absolution would set her free. So as she and Cyrus wordlessly exchanged polling results she felt butterflies in her stomach. They were less than an hour away from the last of the ballots being counted and then it would be over.

Fitz watched her from afar. As he had been for weeks since that day in the Oval office. That one moment he knew he had changed their endgame.

"Say it. If you make me say it I will never forgive you." She said evenly trying hard to keep her emotions in check. Fitz swallowed knowing she knew what he wanted.

"I want Andrew to stop screwing my wife." The lump on Olivia's throat seemed to enlarge bringing greater discomfort. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled and nodded in resolution. She found herself straightening her posture. She had her answer. What she needed to hear. What she always feared she would hear.

"Consider it handled." She stood to her feet determinedly. Strong, emotionless. Fitz grabbed her hand in his in desperation. His face showed the gravity of his turmoil but she looked passed him. Not giving him anymore of herself than she already had. She pulled her hand out of his and turned to leave the room. As she reached to door she gave him a final glance. The hollowness in her eyes told him that she had closed herself off to him. That there was a finality that was never there before not even after how he had treated her upon finding out about Defiance. He felt like an elephant had sat on his heart. He had broken Olivia Pope and he had to live with that.

She had worked tirelessly in getting him reelected and she was there for every meeting. Professional, driven, calculated, not a trace of the Liv he had always been privy to. He had accused her of looking at him with dead eyes when it all fell apart but that was nothing compared to the shell of the person that now stood before him. She was polite and painfully pleasant. If he didn't know her he could fool himself into thinking that it was all sincere but he did know better and the knowledge tore him apart. She wasn't angry nor distant. She was resolved. As though she had finally worked it out. That the reason why it never worked was because it wasn't real. That they weren't real. His actions had spoken louder than his words and finality in her stance kept him from approaching her knowing he had nothing to offer. He chose power. He chose his wife. It may not have been for love but he made that choice.

Olivia pretended that she couldn't feel his gaze on her. She had become really good at slipping out of the room before anyone noticed how his gaze followed her wherever she went. She wanted nothing more than to not be there. To let Abby just take over but she had a job, she had to finish it. If nothing else to allow herself the opportunity to close doors once and for all. So she put heart and soul into getting him reelected. Failure was not an option when so much had already been lost. Consumed by her thoughts she didn't hear the outbreak of screams around her. It wasn't until Cyrus had pulled her into his arms and hugged her that she snapped out of her trance.

"We did it Liv. He's got another four more years." Liv let the words sink in and tears welled up in her eyes.

"We did it." She said in a ghost of a whisper shocked that they pulled it off and clean. Inspite of herself she stole a glance in his direction and there he was surrounded by his family. His arms around his wife and kids. Just as it should be. He looked up and caught her gaze, for a brief moment her guard was down and as quickly as it went down, it came up. She turned back to Cyrus and gave him another hug. Knowing that as happy as he was it dawned on him that James wasn't there to celebrate with him.

"Liv," he said shakily.

"I know Cy. It's okay." She assured him rubbing his back as she held him close her face buried in his shoulder. They had all sacrificed and lost so much for the man before them. Cyrus pulled himself together and nodded bravely at her before finally releasing her. Fitz had joined them seconds later pulling Cyrus into a grateful hug knowing Liv would jump a mile if he touched her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome Mr President. You deserved to win fairly and squarely." She said sincerely.

"If you'll excuse me. I want to congratulate the team." Both Cyrus and Fitz watched as she walked away.

"There's no fixing this. There's no fixing us." He said in a confessional whisper. Cyrus looked up at him and shook his head sadly.

"No sir. There isn't."


End file.
